News & Events

2024 Price Report

We are pleased to announce results of our 2024 project to collect and compare prices for funeral home services. We obtained General Price Lists from 94% of the funeral home locations in Western Massachusetts. Our price study committee reviewed these…

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News & Events

Upcoming talks

The public is invited to any of these presentations. No reservation necessary. Monday, May 6, 7:00 pm at Agawam Public Library, 750 Cooper St, Agawam, MA. “Don’t Get Caught Dead Without Us!” by Sandy Ward, FCAWM Wednesday, May 15, 5:30…

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News & Events

Consumer Protection Week

National Consumer Protection Week, March 3-9, 2024, is a time to help people understand their consumer rights and avoid frauds and scams. The FTC has posted a schedule of related events. We remind you to review “Your Funeral Consumer Rights…

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Sandy's Blog

Problems with scattering ‘ashes’

“Stop spreading ashes on idyllic Bridge of Flowers” was a news headline last summer. (News413, June 29, 2023). Gardeners at the beautiful Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, were asking the public to stop putting cremated remains of pets…

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News & Events

Prices by phone

Consumers have the right to learn pricing information by telephone. Funeral homes are required (by the federal Funeral Rule) to answer questions about prices for services they offer. The FTC recently conducted an undercover sweep, calling various funeral homes across…

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News & Events

News from FCA

The national Funeral Consumers Alliance Board of Directors has announced redesign of the FCA website (accessible at the usual address: www.funerals.org). This has been a major effort led by Board Member Phyllis Croisant during 2023. We welcome the refreshed website…

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News & Events

Fraud Reporting Training

The national Funeral Consumers Alliance (FCA) has invited us to a virtual training session November 29 (8pm ET) to learn more about the Federal Trade Commission’s complaint submission process and the Consumer Sentinel Network. This free event is co-hosted by…

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News & Events

Board of Trustees

At our Annual Membership Meeting on Sunday, October 22, 2023, we filled 3 vacancies on our Board of Trustees. We elected two new members and welcomed back Jim Couchon, who volunteered to run for another full term. We posed for…

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News & Events

Flyer for Annual Program October 22

We are posting a pdf of our flyer for the upcoming educational program, “What’s New & What’s Changing To Help Funeral Consumers?” View/download FLYER pdf here. Or see an image of it below. Please feel free to share this with…

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News & Events

Greening Our Death Care Options

Two opportunities (Oct 21 & 22 ) to learn about eco-friendly improvements in Death Care Options: Our colleagues in FCA of Eastern Massachusetts invite us to their educational program on Earth-Friends Deathcare, to be held (virtually) on Saturday, October 21,…

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